Changing Faces: Pharma and biotech November-December 2024

Welcome to the last edition of Changing Faces for 2024. With the holiday season limiting the December announcements, we chose to combine our November and December editions to bring you a comprehensive overview of the most notable moves that closed out the year. Here is a detailed look at the hires and departures across the industry at the end of 2024.

End of an era. Bruce Cozadd, co-founder and CEO of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, is planning to retire after nearly 22 years with the company, 15 of which he spent as CEO. Jazz Pharmaceuticals aims to appoint a new CEO by the end of 2025, with Cozadd staying on as board chair during and after the transition. The search for his successor is currently in progress, with both internal and external candidates being considered.

Pharma and biotechs welcome new leadership. A wave of CEO appointments brought fresh leadership to several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in November and December:

Michael Shih, formerly vice president of corporate development at Kite Pharma, joined NeoPhore, a company developing small molecule drugs targeting the MMR pathway for cancer immunotherapies.
After more than two decades at GSK and ViiV Healthcare, Craig Williams stepped into the dual role of CEO-partner at Flagship Pioneering and chief executive officer of Apriori, a company working to protect against viral threats.
Dr Frederick Beddingfield III joined Rubedo Life Sciences as CEO and board director, bringing experience from founding Sienna Biopharmaceuticals and serving as chief medical officer at Kythera Biopharmaceuticals and Allergan.
The appointments continued with Matt Gunnison becoming CEO of Biosynth, a Swiss-headquartered supplier of critical materials to the pharmaceutical sector, after co-founding Gamma Biosciences with KKR.
David Apelian, the founding CEO of BlueSphere Bio, was named CEO of Theolytics, a biotech company developing next-generation oncolytic immunotherapies.
ExeVir Bio brought on Michael Garrett as CEO. Garrett, with over 25 years of experience in biotech, has held roles at Flamingo Therapeutics and Scynexis. ExeVir is a clinical-stage biotech company headquartered in Belgium.
Franklin Biolabs welcomed Vatsala Naageshwaran, PhD as CEO. Naageshwaran, previously vice president and head of business development for US cell and gene therapy at Pharmaron, will lead the new genetic medicines-focused CRO.
Rounding out the CEO appointments, Brian M. Alexander moved to Valo Health after serving as SVP of research & development at Roche/Genentech.

C-Suite shake-up at Boundless Bio. Boundless Bio revealed a major C-suite overhaul, with chief medical officer Klaus Wagner, MD, PhD, and chief business officer Neil Abdollahian departing. James Freddo, MD, currently an adviser, will serve as interim CMO during the search for a permanent successor.

Sanofi board gains industry veteran. Sanofi strengthened its board with the addition of Jean-Paul Kress as an independent director. Kress, who served as CEO of MorphoSys until its acquisition by Novartis in 2024, replaces Gilles Schnepp, who departed the role at the end of 2024.

Fresh faces in finance: Continuing the end of year leadership shake-ups, November and December saw plenty of chief financial officer hires across the biotech and pharma worlds:

Lauren White joined Seaport Therapeutics as CFO. White, who was previously CFO at ImmunoGen, will oversee the financial operations of the clinical-stage biopharma.
Greywolf Therapeutics has a new CFO in Darlene Deptula-Hicks. Hicks most recently served as chief financial officer of F-star Therapeutics, which she took public on the NASDAQ in 2020.
Former CFO at Virpax Pharmaceuticals, Vinay Shah, moved to Adial Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies for the treatment and prevention of addiction and related disorders.
Global clinical research organisation Worldwide Clinical Trials appointed Jason Meggs as CFO. Meggs, who previously served as CFO at TriNetX and Syneos Health, will lead the financial operations for the company.
California-based Intelliguard welcomed Giovanni Sapio as CFO. Sapio, with experience from previous roles at Cardinal Health, IBM, and Scotts Miracle-Gro, will manage the financial strategy for the medication management systems provider.

Medical C-Suite hires. Lest you think it’s all business in the pharma and biotech world, November and December also saw four notable chief medical officer appointments:

Dr Souad Kechairi was appointed chief medical officer of PLL Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharma company. Kechairi joined from Syneos Health, after nearly 18 years of service, during which she held various advisory and management roles.
Dietmar Berger, MD is the new chief medical officer of Gilead Sciences. This is not Berger’s first time working at the helm of a pharma giant; he was previously CMO and global head of development at Sanofi.
Anaveon named Richard Sachse as CMO. Sachse, previously CMO of SOTIO Biotech, will oversee the development of treatments for diseases with immune system dysfunction at the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company.
Dr Klara Owen was named CMO of DiogenX. Owen joined from Novo Nordisk, where she was senior international medical director of cell therapy R&D.

BillionToOne gains top executive talent. California-based precision diagnostics company, BillionToOne bolstered its leadership team with three key vice president appointments. Judy Wong joined as vice president, controller, Alex Bisignano as vice president of business development, and Susan Lin as vice president of information systems.

Biotech companies fortify C-suite teams. Several companies ended the year by strengthening their business, operations, and scientific leadership:

Pfizer named Dr Chris Boshoff as CSO and president of R&D, effective 1st January 2025. Boshoff, previously Pfizer’s chief oncology officer, will oversee the development of medicines in rare disease, oncology, and infectious disease at the top 10 pharma company.
Barry Balfe was appointed COO of ICON. Balfe has over 20 years of experience at ICON, holding various leadership roles. ICON is a global CRO.
Serena Silver became the new CSO for Accent Therapeutics. Silver, formerly vice president of biology at Fulcrum Therapeutics, will lead the development of small molecule precision cancer therapies at the biotech company.
Eckhard Niemeier was named CBO of Nouscom. Niemeier joined from UNION Therapeutics and has held senior roles at Pieris Pharmaceuticals. Nouscom develops cancer immunotherapies.
Tessellate BIO appointed Dr Lara Boyd as CBO. Boyd, with business development roles at Cancer Research Technology and Cancer Research UK, will lead the business strategy of the preclinical stage biotechnology company.
Koneksa welcomed Eric Luthi as CBO. Luthi, formerly chief commercial officer at Evergreen Therapeutics, will manage the commercial strategy of the healthcare technology company pioneering digital biomarkers.
Massachusetts-based biopharma company Ocular Therapeutix named Namrata Saroj as CBO. Saroj, co-founder of Clinical Trials Resource Group, has also held positions at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
Flagship Pioneering spin-out Mirai Bio appointed Jens Vogel, PhD as president and COO. Vogel brings a wealth of experience from her previous role as global head of biotech at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Massachusetts-based, Mirai Bio, applies artificial intelligence to solve the various obstacles that can block the progress of new medicines.
Biolojic appointed Neal Curran as CBO. Curran, with business development roles at GSK and Merz Therapeutics, will manage the business strategy of the biotechnology company using AI to transform antibodies into intelligent medicines.
Portuguese biotech, FairJourney Biologics, welcomed Dr Marc van Dijk as CSO. Van Dijk was previously CSO at MiNK Therapeutics. FairJourney provides essential antibody discovery, engineering, and production services for small and mid-sized biopharma companies.
Alphina Therapeutics appointed Marc Damelin as CSO. Damelin, formerly vice president and head of biology at Mersana Therapeutics, will lead the development of small molecule inhibitors for solid tumours at the biotech company.
Howard Chang, MD, is the new senior vice president of research and CSO at Amgen. Chang, who led a research laboratory at Stanford University, will oversee the development of innovative medicines at the biotech.
Abdul Mullick was named president and COO of Kyowa Kirin, a global specialty pharmaceutical company, effective March 2025. Mullick was previously chief international business officer at Kyowa Kirin.

Government and regulatory bodies see new leadership. Having served less than a year, the FDA’s principal deputy commissioner, Namandjé Bumpus, PhD, was expected to leave her position by the end of the year. She was elevated to the role of principal deputy commissioner in February 2024. Meanwhile, the UK’s Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency appointed Anthony Harnden as chair, following his role as Professor of Primary Care at Oxford and deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Rippon Ubhi took the chair position at the European Medicines Group while maintaining her role as country lead for Sanofi UK & Ireland.

That’s it for this edition of Changing Faces. Remember, if you’ve had a recent appointment and you work in or around the pharma space, we want to hear about it. Please send your press releases to editorial@pharmaphorum.com to be included in future editions of Changing Faces.