→ Mired in flagging sales for
Vascepa
, the harsh realities of the current climate in biotech
have hit
Amarin
as they slice 40% of the workforce — the majority of those cuts coming from the US commercial team. And the resignation of CFO
Michael Kalb
has led Amarin
to install
Tom Reilly
as his replacement, effective June 20. Reilly had been finance chief at
Cara Therapeutics
since October 2020; after 14 years of financial roles at
Novartis
, he was
Allergan
’s head of finance for the US general medicines unit from 2017-20. Under CEO
Karim Mikhail
, who
succeeded
John Thero
last year, Amarin hopes the job reduction will save them $100 million in the next year.
→ The same day that
CureVac
inked
a small deal to buy
Frame Cancer Therapeutics
for €32 million ($34 million), the German mRNA player
also disclosed
that chief development officer
Klaus Edvardsen
is on his way out on June 30. Big Pharma vet
Myriam Mendila
will take over on Feb. 1, 2023, and
Ulrike Gnad-Vogt
— CureVac’s SVP area head oncology — will bridge the gap in Edvardsen’s place. Mendila’s oncology chops will come in handy here in light of the buyout: The worldwide head of medical affairs and CMO, oncology at Novartis since 2017, she also led global medical affairs at
Roche
and US medical affairs at
Genentech
.
“The addition of Frame’s technology and talent to CureVac’s oncology research complements our ability to identify and validate promising neoantigens for our mRNA cancer vaccine programs,” CureVac CEO
Franz-Werner Haas
said of the M&A deal.
→ As
Edward Conner
becomes
CMO of
Third Harmonic Bio
, an inflammatory disease biotech with
$155 million worth of funding
in the hopper, chief
Natalie Holles
said in a statement that she’s “thrilled to be working with Ed again.” Conner served as site lead and division head of medical and development at
Audentes
(now
Astellas Gene Therapies
) when Holles was CEO. Conner makes this quick return to Peer Review after
taking
the CMO gig at
Locanabio
in July 2021.
→ With its lead program in Phase I/II trials for ENPP1 and ABCC6 deficiencies,
Inozyme
has tapped
Kurt Gunter
as CMO. For the last year, Gunter took on the roles of CMO, cell therapy and head of regulatory affairs at
Athenex
, feeling the pinch of the bear market with a budget overhaul
that included
an undisclosed number of layoffs. A
Hospira
vet, Gunter was the medical chief at
Kuur Therapeutics
before he joined Athenex last spring.
Consequently,
Darrel Cohen
has answered the call
to succeed
Gunter as CMO, cell therapy at Athenex after a year as the medical chief of
Biosight
. Cohen was VP of late-phase clinical development at
Pfizer Oncology
, but left his post in 2019 to lead clinical development at
EUSA Pharma
.
→ San Francisco-based
Better Therapeutics
is handing over the reins
of the company to
Frank
Karbe
, who will begin as president and CEO on July 5. In the interim, current CEO and co-founder
Kevin Appelbaum
will continue to serve in the role. Karbe makes his way to Better from
Myovant
, where he was president and CFO. Earlier in his career, Karbe was EVP and CFO of
Exelixis
and worked as an investment banker at
Goldman Sachs
.
→ As
Akili Interactive
preps commercial launch for its ADHD
video game therapy
EndeavorRx
in the fall, the company
is making some room
on its leadership team for commercial veteran
Matt
Franklin
as president and COO to help pave the way. Franklin most recently served as general manager of the precision oncology business at
Exact Sciences
and before that, was chief commercial officer at
Thrive Earlier Detection
. Earlier in his career, Franklin was CBO for
ArcherDX
and SVP of global marketing and clinical product strategy at
Foundation
Medicine
.
→
Cellectis
natural killer partner
Cytovia
, which
took the SPAC route
to Nasdaq with
Isleworth Healthcare Acquisition
in April,
has pegged
Luca Scavo
as CFO and
James Priour
as chief product officer. Peer Review
just reported
last week that Scavo bolted
Evelo Biosciences
after a year as finance chief, and he’s a Roche/Genentech vet who was CFO of
Roche Diagnostics North America
from 2019-21. Priour spent 11 years at
Amgen
before his appointment as SVP, commercial at
Zymeworks
in April 2020, eventually earning a promotion to chief commercial officer.
→
Bob Nelsen
is dishing out
several promotions at
ARCH Venture Partners
:
Ari Nowacek
(to partner);
Sean Kendall
(to partner, Europe);
Corey Ritter
(to principal); and
Nilay Thakar
(also to principal). ARCH is also bringing
Olivia Zetter
into the fold as a strategic advisor and venture partner. Zetter pivots to ARCH after leading government affairs and AI strategy at
Resilience
, which
backed up
the Brinks truck for a hefty $625 million Series D this week.
→ It’s been a whirlwind for
Hubert Chen
, so let’s break it all down: As 2021 drew to a close, Chen stepped down as CMO of
Metacrine
to take the same job at
ADARx Pharmaceuticals
. But another change of scenery
awaits
, this time as CSO and president of
Forte Biosciences
, which has been reduced to a
pianissimo
after a flop
with its lead atopic dermatitis candidate resulted in plummeting shares. Before he was with Metacrine, Chen was chief scientific and medical officer for
Pfenex
.
Incidentally, ADARx
has lined up
Andrew Seacat
as head of toxicology, joining the RNA editing brigade at the San Diego biotech after his time at
Zogenix
as senior director, pharmacology and toxicology. A former principal scientist at Allergan, Seacat has also worked at
La Jolla Pharmaceutical
as senior director, preclinical development.
→
Don’t call him an underdog
:
Rudy Howard
has been appointed
as CFO of Houston-based metastatic disease player
Aravive
. Howard most recently held the same position at
vTv Therapeutics
and
SciQuest
, and he has also served as SVP and CFO at
MDS Pharma Services
.
→ Led by ex-
Forty Seven
chief
Mark McCamish
and having
secured
a $77 million Series A in January 2021, San Diego oncolytic virus biotech
IconOVir
has appointed
John Huynh
as its first chief technology officer. Before his recent year-long run as SVP of technical operations at
Ring Therapeutics
, Huynh was
PTC Therapeutics
’ VP of gene therapy technical operations.
→ A couple weeks ago, the FDA
lifted
the
partial clinical hold
on
Alpine Immune Sciences
’ combo trial with
davoceticept
and
Keytruda
, and the
Mitch Gold
-led biotech
will now welcome
Andrew Sandler
as CMO on Aug. 17. Sandler had been CMO of
Kiadis
, which
Sanofi
bought
for $358 million in November 2020 to beef up its NK capabilities. A former oncology exec at
Bayer
, Sandler was also CMO at
Spectrum Pharmaceuticals
and
Dendreon
. The FDA put up the stop sign on the trial in March after a patient death that was “attributed to cardiogenic shock.”
→ Over at San Carlos, CA-based cancer biotech
Apexigen
,
William Duke
has signed on
as CFO. Duke joins Apexigen from the
recently shuttered
Kaleido Biosciences
, where he also served as CFO. He has also served in the same position at
Pulmatrix
and
Valeritas
.
→ ADC-minded
Emergence Therapeutics
,
trying to challenge
the
Astellas
/
Seagen
drug
Padcev
with a Series A nearing $100 million back in December,
has appointed
Hatem Azim
as CFO. Most recently, Azim was head of oncology, early clinical development at French pharma
Pierre Fabre
. Before that, he was VP, head of clinical development at
Innate Pharma
.
→ The Omicron variant
forced
the NIH to pull the plug on enrollment for the ACTIV-2 Phase III trial involving
SAB Biotherapeutics
’ polyclonal antibody, and three months later, the Sioux Falls, SD biotech
has named
Alexandra Kropotova
as CMO. Kropotova ended her eight-year association with Sanofi by serving as VP, strategy & strategic planning head, North American medical affairs before leaving in 2016 for
Teva
, where she was therapeutic area head, global specialty R&D.
→ Ophthalmology startup
Aurion
Biotech
, which
snagged a nice $120 million
earlier this year in a bid to scale cell therapy for a form of blindness,
has waved in
Michael Goldstein
as president and CMO. Prior to his new role, Goldstein was president and CMO of
Ocular Therapeutix
and CMO of
Applied Genetic Technologies
Corp
. Earlier in his career, Goldstein was with
Eleven Biotherapeutics
, where he held a number of roles, including CMO and VP of clinical research.
→ While
Gilead
celebrates its 10-year anniversary in Asia, the company
has brought aboard
Dustin Haines
as VP, general manager, Asia 5. Haines will be responsible for driving the business development of HIV, viral hepatitis including hepatitis B, C and D, as well as Gilead’s commitment to enhance public health and community impact in the Asia 5 markets: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia. Haines hails from
Next Science
, where he was CCO. Prior to that, Haines spent over a decade at
ViiV Healthcare
(president and general manager for Japan) and
GSK
.
→ Liver disease-focused
Inipharm
has brought on
Chuhan Chung
as CMO. Chung joins the company from Gilead, where he served as executive director and global development lead and was responsible for clinical studies in NASH and primary sclerosing cholangitis. Prior to Gilead, Chung was an associate professor at Yale University School of Medicine, section of gastroenterology & hepatology.
→ Taking aim at extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) to treat cancer,
Boundless Bio
has introduced
Sara Weymer
as VP of clinical operations. From 2016-21, Weymer led clinical operations at
Fate Therapeutics
, whose iPSC-derived natural killer therapies
have run into
durability issues that sound the alarm bells but don’t necessarily spell doom. Earlier in her career, Weymer was a senior clinical trial manager at
Biogen
.
→ AAV gene therapy outfit
Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation
has two appointments
to announce this week:
Eduardo Jacobo
as SVP of GMP manufacturing and
David Jacobs
as SVP of clinical research and medical affairs. Prior to joining AGTC, Jacobo ran GMP gene manufacturing at
Sangamo
, and he has also held numerous manufacturing positions at Amgen and
Eli Lilly
. Jacobs comes to AGTC after leading clinical programs at Biogen and
Daiichi Sankyo
.
→ On the cusp of a Phase III trial with its dendritic cell therapy
ITI-1000
for glioblastoma multiforme,
Immunomic Therapeutics
has selected
Brian Stamper
as VP, cell therapy operations. A veteran of Eli Lilly and
AstraZeneca Biologics
, Stamper had a short run at
Lonza
before his most recent post as senior director of manufacturing at
Kite
.
→ CNS-focused
Neuraxpharm Group
has tapped
Alfredo Barón
as the new country manager of
Neuraxpharm
Spain
, taking over for
Javier Mercadé
— who has been appointed head of growth markets. Barón joins Neuraxpharm from
Almirall
, where he most recently served as EVP of global commercial operations and CCO. Before his most recent role at Almirall, Barón was director of sales and marketing manager, corporate managing director for south and eastern Europe and EVP and managing director of Europe for the company.
→ Data management outfit
Dotmatics
, which was
snapped up
by
Insightful Science
last March,
has named
Larry Samuelson
as chief legal officer and
Neil Frye
as chief people officer. Samuelson most recently served as SVP, general counsel and corporate secretary of
Cvent
, while Frye is the former chief people officer of
Alto Pharmacy
and has previously held roles at
Dropbox
,
Google
and
Accenture
.
→ Duarte, CA-based
Prolacta Bioscience
has reeled in
David Steinberg
as CFO. Steinberg joins with experience from previous stints at
Jefferies
(managing director) and
Deutsche Bank
under his belt.
→ The board of directors at
NRx Pharmaceuticals
has recruited
Seth Van Voorhees
as CFO and treasurer. Van Voorhees hops aboard from
PDS Biotechnology
, where he also wore the CFO hat. Prior to that, he served a 10-year gig as CFO for
Research Frontiers
and for
American
Pacific
. Earlier in his career, Van Voorhees served at
Merrill
Lynch
,
UBS Warburg
and
Wasserstein Perella
.
→ Cambridge, UK-based
Metrion Biosciences
has appointed
Benedetta Montagnini
as head of European business development. Montagnini previously served as business development manager at
Eurofins Discovery
and
DiscoveRx
. Before that, Montagnini was account manager for the industrial bioprocessing division at
Invitrogen
.
→
Putting on
a united front last month with other Duchenne drugmakers on why safety problems have dogged the indication,
Sarepta
has added
Michael Chambers
and
Kathryn Boor
to its board of directors. Chambers co-founded and was the longtime CEO of
Aldevron
, and Boor is the dean of Cornell’s graduate school as well as vice provost for graduate education.
→
Bahija Jallal’
s
Immunocore
has appointed
Siddharth Kaul
to the board of directors. The retired Kaul last served as group treasurer and head of business planning and analysis at Novartis in 2021, where he spent 17 years of his career in such roles as CFO, pharma Europe and CFO, pharma US.
→ Like Hall of Fame college basketball coach Roy Williams subbing out an entire lineup,
Brooklyn ImmunoTherapeutics
is putting
new board members on the floor after last week’s CEO change. Interim chief
Matt Angel
leads the list of names, followed by
Exacis Biotherapeutics
CEO
Gregory Fiore
,
Purchase Capital
founder
Nicholas Singer
and
Homer City Holdings
chairman and CEO
Bill Wexler
. Gone are
Erich Mohr
,
Dennis Langer
,
Heather Redman
, and
Erin Enright
, effective June 5.
→ With billionaire
Ric Kayne
suspending
his attempt to overhaul the board of directors, Seattle Alzheimer’s biotech
Athira Pharma
is moving forward
with a new scientific advisory board. Chaired by Athira CMO
Hans Moebius
, the board
will consist of
Anton Porsteinsson
,
John Olichney
,
Marwan Sabbagh
,
Lon Schneider
,
Pierre Tairot
and
Paul Winner
.
→
Ambrx Biopharma
has boosted
its board of directors with
Blueprint Medicines
SVP of global medical affairs
Janet Loesberg
. A 12-year
Bristol Myers Squibb
vet, Loesberg was briefly the VP, head of portfolio and project management, R&D for
J&J
’s
Janssen
.
→
Robert Hariri
’s
Celularity
has elected
former Kite head of US commercial
Diane Parks
to the board of directors. Parks adds the cell therapy biotech to her list of board responsibilities, which includes posts at
Calliditas Therapeutics
,
CTI BioPharma
and
Kura Oncology
.
→
Life Sciences Advisory
managing partner
Saira Ramasastry
has been given a seat
on the board of directors at
Mirum Pharmaceuticals
. This is the latest in a string of current board appointments for Ramasastry at
Vir
,
Glenmark
,
Day One Biopharmaceuticals
and
Akouos
.
→ Cystic fibrosis player
Sionna Therapeutics
has made room
for
Paul Clancy
on the board of directors. The former CFO of
Alexion
(2017-19) and Biogen (2007-17) is on the boards of
Incyte
, Exact Sciences and
Xilio Therapeutics
.
→
Jennifer Zachary
has clinched
a spot on the board of directors at Rockville, MD-based
Regenxbio
, which
has been in
a patent squabble over
Zolgensma
with Novartis. Zachary has been
Merck
’s general counsel since April 2018.