Changing Faces

In the digital and supplier space, we saw a good deal of personnel movement in October, including a number of CEO appointments.

Read on for the full list.

Experienced genomics leader takes helm at PCR sequencing firm. At Countable Labs, formerly Enumerix, Giovanna Prout has stepped into the CEO role. Her career spans Illumina and 10x Genomics, and most recently she led Scale Biosciences as CEO. With deep expertise in catalysing new markets for genomics tools, Prout will drive the continued development of Countable’s next-generation PCR and sequencing technologies.

FairJourney appoints former Evotec chief to top role. Bringing 15 years of leadership experience from Evotec SE, Dr Werner Lanthaler has taken the helm at FairJourney Biologics, a Portguese CRO specialising in antibody therapeutics. Under his leadership Evotec became a major player in global drug discovery, particularly in precision medicine. Lanthaler also served as CFO at Intercell, where he oversaw its IPO and vaccine launches.

New head of discovery in at Indian CDMO. Neeraj Garg has joined Aragen Life Sciences as CEO of Discovery Solutions. Previously CEO at Apollo Health & Lifestyle Limited, Garg also held senior roles at Abbott Healthcare, where he spearheaded global strategic planning and launched novel healthcare platforms. Aragen, based in Hyderabad, provides R&D and manufacturing solutions to the life sciences industry.

CelLBxHealth’s new intermin CEO brings oncology expertise. Following a series of leadership roles in oncology diagnostics, Peter Collins has stepped in as interim CEO at CelLBxHealth (formerly ANGLE). His experience includes serving as CEO of SAGA Diagnostics, chief business officer at Inivata, and senior positions at Guardant Health and GSK. The company focuses on harvesting circulating tumour cells for research and clinical oncology applications.

Insulin patch disruptor adds talent from both CGM market leaders. Netherlands-based ViCentra, maker of a reusable insulin patch pump, has added two senior executives. Karen Baxter, SVP sales, brings nine years of experience from Dexcom, where she served as VP & GM for Northern Europe and select international markets, while Jay Little, VP strategy and business development, joins from Medtronic Diabetes, where he led payer strategy and value-based care initiatives.

Astraveus strengthens operations and technology leadership. Paris-based Astraveus, dedicated to scaling cell therapy manufacturing, has made two key appointments. Chief operating officer Didier Masson brings over two decades of operational experience across pharma, biotech, and medtech, most recently at Quantoom Biosciences. Chief technology officer Ken Kotz, meanwhile, joins from bluebird bio, where he contributed to the commercialisation of Lyfgenia and led long-term strategy efforts.

Quest Diagnostics appoints new leader for Blueprint. Juhana Rauramo is in as vice president and general manager for Blueprint Genetics at Quest Diagnostics. Previously CEO of Aidian and Hytest, Rauramo brings expertise in diagnostics and antibody manufacturing for cardiovascular and infectious diseases.

Ultima Genomics expands APAC Leadership. Freemont, California gene sequencing outfit Ultima Genomics has a new general manager for its Asia Pacific region in Jason Kang. Kang previously served in similar capacities at Pacific Biosciences and Illumina Korea, where he drove growth in both research and clinical sequencing businesses.

Three more C-Suite hires. A trio of companies across the medtech, digital, and manufacturing spaces added new faces to their executive suites.

Swedish medtech firm Enzymatica has named Holger Lembrér as chief financial officer. Lembrér most recently held the same role at Boule Diagnostics, overseeing the group’s finance function.
Mark Jewett has joined Komodo Health as chief marketing officer. With prior experience at Microsoft, Tableau, and Informatica, Jewett will lead marketing and brand strategy for Marmot, Komodo’s AI platform designed to accelerate data-driven decision-making in life sciences.
At transatlantic CRDMO Symeres, Gabriella Gentile has been appointed chief operating officer. Her 25-year career spans senior roles at Catalent, Roche, and Aptuit.

Two VP hires for clinical trial firms. Signant Health, a Philadelphia-based clinical trials partner and self-described “anti-CRO” Lindus Health both added new officers at the VP level. John Harrison is in as clinical vice president at Signant. Harrison holds academic appointments at Amsterdam UMC and King’s College London, where his research centres on cognitive assessment methodologies for drug development. Heather Davis has become VP of US clinical operations at Lindus Health. Previously COO at Highline Sciences, Davis helped scale the oncology-focused CRO from seven employees to over 100 and later integrated operations at Tempus Compass.

Two more firms buff up BD teams. Finally, the month saw more than its share of sales and business development hires. In addition to ViCentra:

Lithuanian protein design company Biomatter has hired Cindy Chang as vice president of business development for biopharma. Chang’s background includes leadership roles at Prospect Bio, Codexis, and Gingko Bioworks, with a focus on enzymology and commercial strategy.
Sterile GMP manufacturer Symbiosis has strengthened its commercial team with two appointments: Kevin O’Brien, VP business development, previously held similar roles at Siegfried, while LeeAnn Nguyen, VP business development, joins from Ajinomoto Biopharma Services, where she supported complex sterile manufacturing programmes.

That’s it for our digital and supplier hires, but stay tuned for our other hires round-ups and remember, you can send your own hires to editorial@pharmaphorum.com for inclusion in this column.