Changing Faces

Welcome to the September addition of Changing Faces. September ushered in a wave of significant appointments across the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, with companies from big pharma to start-ups reshuffling their leadership teams. Here's a comprehensive look at the month's most notable moves.

Eli Lilly bolsters communications and government affairs teams. Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly made two key appointments this month. James Tyrrell stepped into the role of senior director, communications for cardiometabolic health, bringing with him a wealth of experience from his previous position leading the global health practice at public affairs agency APCO Worldwide. Additionally, Robert Ede was named senior director, government affairs and communications for Northern Europe. Ede's appointment comes fresh off his tenure as Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in the UK government.

UCB taps new UK head. Belgium-based global biopharmaceutical company UCB welcomed Nico Reynders as its new general manager for UK and Ireland. Reynders, a 14-year veteran of UCB, most recently spearheaded the development of the company's bone health business in Belgium.

Chiesi hires new comms lead. Italian family-owned Chiesi Group, known for its focus on sustainability and corporate responsibility, appointed Laura Vergani as SVP of global communications and public affairs. Vergani's diverse background includes a recent stint leading communications for clean energy start-up newcleo, as well as healthcare experience at Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Biotech firms see CEO shake-ups. It was a big month for changes at the top of the C-Suite, with a number of new CEOs and similar announced.

UK pharma company Alchemab, which aims to identify and develop naturally occurring therapeutic antibodies from resilient individuals, promoted co-founder Jane Osbourne from chief science officer to CEO. Osbourne's background includes leading R&D at MedImmune, the biologics arm of AstraZeneca.
Also in the UK, Amphista Therapeutics, which focuses on next-generation targeted protein degradation therapies, brought on Antony Mattessich as CEO. Mattessich previously served as president and CEO of Ocular Therapeutix for seven years.
Milan-based Genespire, developer of off-the-shelf gene therapies for paediatric genetic diseases, appointed Karen Aiach-Pignet as its new CEO. Aiach-Pignet, founder of gene therapy company Lysogene, succeeds Dr Julia Berretta.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Orbital Therapeutics, an innovator in RNA-based medicines, named Ron Philip as CEO. Philip, who most recently helmed Spark Therapeutics, takes over from founding CEO Giuseppe "Pino" Ciaramella, who will remain as a scientific and strategic advisor.
Belgian biotech reMYND, which develops treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, tapped experienced biotech entrepreneur Floor Stam as its new CEO. Stam co-founded oncology company Flamingo Therapeutics.
London-based IMU Biosciences, which leverages AI for systems-level immune profiling, announced that Dr John Baker has joined as CEO, coming from Abcam where he served as SVP of supply chain and manufacturing. Baker takes over from founder Dr Adam Laing, who will transition to president and chief scientific officer.
Not a CEO, but we’ll throw in New York-based Ovid Therapeutics, studying treatments for epilepsies and brain conditions with seizure symptoms, who promoted Meg Alexander to president and COO. Alexander joined Ovid in 2020 and previously worked at Syneos Health.
Finally, in a notable departure, Amy Emerson stepped down as CEO of Lykos Therapeutics, a California company developing mental health therapies based on MDMA, the latest resignation following the company’s FDA setback. Michael Mullette, a pharma industry veteran with experience at Moderna and Sanofi, was named interim CEO.

Transgene adds two scientists to C-Suite. Strasbourg, France-based Transgene, which works on virus-based immunotherapies for cancer, announced two key appointments. Dr Emmanuelle Dochy joins as chief medical officer, succeeding the retiring Dr Maud Brandely and bringing oncology research experience from Bayer and Sanofi. And Maurizio Ceppi stepped in as chief scientific officer, replacing Eric Quéméneur. Ceppi specialises in cancer immunotherapy and precision medicine, with previous experience at Roche.

Century Therapeutics strengthens executive team. Philadelphia-based Century Therapeutics, which leverages adult stem cells to create next-generation cell therapies for cancer, made two significant hires in September: Morgan Conn as CFO and Chad Cowan as chief scientific officer. Conn previously served as CBO at Pharvaris and founded business consultancy CallisBio, while Cowan, a stem and cell therapy pioneer, founded and led Clade Therapeutics, was scientific founder at CRISPR Therapeutics, and served as CSO at Sana Biotechnology.

New chief business officers take the helm. Several companies this month had new appointees to the post of chief business officer.

Cue Biopharma, a Boston-based clinical-stage biopharma working on novel T-cell biologics, brought on Lucinda Warren. Warren boasts 25 years of experience at Johnson & Johnson, most recently heading up the neuroscience BD team.
London-based AI-powered drug developer CHARM Therapeutics welcomed Dr Beverly Carr to the CBO role. Carr's executive experience includes serving as CBO at Achilles Therapeutics and interim CEO at Amphista Therapeutics.
Stoke Therapeutics, a Massachusetts biotech that addresses severe diseases by upregulating protein expression with RNA-based medicine, appointed Eric Olson as CBO. Olson's 20-year career includes stints at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Takeda.
Dutch clinical-stage biopharma Khondrion, which is developing therapies for primary mitochondrial diseases, named Jasper Levink as chief financial and business officer. Levink previously served as CBO of German biotech LenioBio and is the current CEO of early-stage biotech SixtyFour Therapeutics.
Jason Brown was appointed chief business officer, at the aforementioned IMU Biosciences, most recently having led business development at Evotec.

Chief medical officers in high demand. Another C-Suite role that saw a lot of traction this time around was the role of chief medical officer.

San Francisco-based Aligos Therapeutics, focused on liver and viral diseases, appointed Dr Hardean Achneck as CMO. Achneck most recently served as SVP and head of clinical development at Pliant Therapeutics, and has prior experience at Novo Nordisk and Duke Medicine.
Belite Bio, a clinical-stage drug development company targeting retinal degenerative eye diseases, welcomed Dr Hendrik P.N. Scholl as CMO. Scholl, a globally-recognised expert on age-related macular degeneration, was the founding and scientific co-director of the Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel.
California’s Skye Bioscience, working on novel applications of the endocannabinoid system, named Dr Puneet S Arora as CMO. Arora, a specialist in endocrinology, immunology, and clinical development, joined from Lassen Therapeutics.
Rectify Pharma, a Massachusetts biotech developing small molecule disease-modifying therapeutics for ABC transporter function, brought on Dr Pol Boudes as CMO. This marks Boudes' fourth CMO role, following stints at Galectin Therapeutics, CymaBay Therapeutics, and Amicus Therapeutics.

Opthea overhauls leadership. Australia and US-based Opthea, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel therapy for wet AMD, announced a number of key appointments:

Mike Campbell was named chief commercial officer, bringing impressive sales experience from roles at Genentech, Novartis, and Shire. He replaces Judith Robertson.
Daniel Geffken, managing director of Danforth Advisors, stepped in as interim CFO, succeeding Peter Lang.
Dayong Li joined as SVP of biometrics, coming from Marinus Pharmaceuticals, with previous experience at AbbVie and AstraZeneca.
Jen Watts was appointed VP global clinical operations, bringing extensive ophthalmology experience from roles at Complement Therapeutics, Oculis, and Graybug Vision. She succeeds Bruno Gagnon.
Anthony Bonifazio took on the role of VP of market access, joining from Astellas, part of a career that has also included positions at Genentech and Novartis.

Three scientific hires. We saw a few more miscellaneous scientific hires this month.

Massachusetts biotech Entact Bio, which is working on protein function enhancement, named Ruben Tommasi as chief science officer. Tommasi's experience includes roles at Dunad Therapeutics, Entasis, AstraZeneca, and NIBR.
Pennsylvania-based SFA Therapeutics, developing oral small-molecule compounds for inflammatory disease, appointed Dr Ananda Gubbi as director of biostatistics. Gubbi brings over 25 years of experience from companies including Amgen, Teva, Kite, Genentech, Sanofi, and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Ochre Bio in Oxford, developing RNA therapies for liver disease, welcomed Mark Lundquist as head of late stage validation. Lundquist previously led biology and pharmacology at Alphina Therapeutics and served as senior scientist at Kadmon Holdings.

Biotechs hire for regulatory affairs, business development. Finally, a pair of biotechs brought on regulatory pros, and one more bolstered its business development team.

Respiratory-focused biopharma Enterprise Therapeutics, based in the UK, named Annabella Amatulli as head of regulatory affairs. Amatulli brings 14 years of experience in pharma regulatory affairs across the US and Europe.
San Francisco-based 89Bio, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on liver and cardiometabolic diseases, appointed Teresa Perney as chief regulatory and quality officer. Perney most recently held the same position at EQRx prior to its acquisition by Revolution Medicines.
Boston-based clinical-stage biopharma BPGbio, specialising in mitochondrial biology and protein homeostasis, appointed John Beeler as SVP of business development. Beeler most recently held the position of search and evaluation lead at Bristol Myers Squibb.

That’s a wrap 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.