Changing Faces

This month saw a flurry of board and advisory appointments across the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, with organisations strengthening their leadership benches through a mix of seasoned executives, scientific experts, and strategic investors.

From trade associations to medtech innovators and biotech start-ups, here’s a comprehensive look at the latest boardroom changes.

Fritz Bittenbender to Chair BIO Board. At the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) conference in June, Fritz Bittenbender, head of public affairs and access at Genentech, was appointed Chair of the Board at BIO. He succeeds Ted Love, the former president and CEO of Global Blood Therapeutics, who completed a two-year tenure. Other appointments to BIO's board for the 2025 through 2026 term include: Arcutis Bio's Frank Watanabe, named vice-chair; Bristol Myers Squibb's Cari Gallman, who becomes associate vice chair and secretary; and Tom Mathers of Aser Therapeutics, who will serve as treasurer.

Capitainer expands Board, names new Chair. Swedish medtech company Capitainer, known for its patient-centric self-sampling solutions for blood, plasma, and urine, has significantly expanded its board with four new appointments:

Richard Tejme has been named Chair of the Board. A seasoned investor and advisor, Tejme brings over 25 years of executive experience as CFO and CEO across multiple industries.
Alain Pluquet, formerly corporate vice president and CTO at bioMérieux, joins the board with a deep expertise in innovation, R&D, and data analytics strategy.
Dr Thomas Lindahl, global chief medical officer at Unilabs and a specialist in radiology with a PhD in oncology from Karolinska Institutet, adds clinical and scientific depth.
Dr Louise Warme, head of We Venture Capital at Werfen and a Clinical Innovations Fellow at KTH and Karolinska Institutet, brings a blend of research and investment experience.

Two pharmas add new leadership. Clinigen, a London-based specialty pharma company focused on access to care, has appointed Paul Carter as Chair of the Board. Carter’s extensive commercial leadership experience includes roles as EVP and chief commercial officer at Gilead Sciences, head of GlaxoSmithKline China, and head of SmithKline Beecham Russia. Meanwhile, Barbara Krebs-Pohl has been named Chair at OneChain Immunotherapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company developing CAR-T therapies for oncologic diseases. With over 27 years of experience in biotechnology and business, Krebs-Pohl has led growth strategies at companies such as MorphoSys.

Daiser Adds Dominic James to Advisory Board. Pharma exec heavyweight Dominic James, former global head of digital health innovation at Merck, has joined the advisory board of Daiser, a health tech company offering an AI-native, modular digital ecosystem for building and deploying digital health services without technical expertise. In addition to his leadership role at Merck, James brings three decades of experience in innovation and management consulting and data science.

NHS Mental Health Network names new Chair. Dr Buki Adeyemo, chief executive of North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust, has been appointed Chair of the NHS Confederation Mental Health Network. Adeyemo has served on the network’s advisory board for the past two years as an NHS chief executive representative. The Mental Health Network represents providers of NHS mental healthcare and support for people with learning disabilities and autism.

Biotech vet in as Chair at Enhanced Genomics. Enhanced Genomics, a Cambridge-based tech vendor developing a genome-wide 3D sequencing platform, has brought onboard Dietrich Stephan as Chair of the Board. Stephan has held numerous C-level and board roles, overseen successful exits and acquisitions, and played a pivotal role in building over two dozen biotech companies – several of which reached billion-dollar valuations.

Dialysis innovator taps industry veterans for Board. Basel-based Opterian Health, which is developing a novel peritoneal dialysis solution, has appointed two new board members with deep experience in the space: Rice Powell, former Chairman and CEO of Fresenius Medical Care, and Mark Hahn, CFO of Verona Pharma.

Swedish biotech adds two to Board. Swedish biotech firm TIRMed Pharma, which is developing next-generation immunomodulatory therapies for autoimmune skin diseases, has welcomed two new board members. Peder Walberg brings a wealth of experience in drug development and commercialisation, including leading the Swedish launch of Elidel for atopic dermatitis during his tenure at Novartis, while Christian Krog-Jensen, Investment Manager at Almi Invest, joins the board with a focus on identifying and supporting promising life sciences ventures.

Two new faces join PeptiSystems Board. PeptiSystems, a biotech company developing new instruments for peptide and oligonucleotide synthesis, has added two seasoned leaders to its board: Helena Strigård, formerly director general of SwedenBIO, and Nick Roelofs, who brings more than four decades of international leadership in life sciences and scaling companies.

Priothera strengthens oncology expertise. At Priothera, a late-stage biopharma company headquartered in Dublin and operating in France, Dr Hans Menssen has joined the Board. With past senior roles at Novartis, Bayer Schering Pharma, and Philogen SpA, Menssen has supported oncology innovation across a range of modalities including small molecules, antibodies, and cell therapies.

Asgard Therapeutics makes a range of Board additions. Swedish biotech Asgard Therapeutics, focused on in vivo direct cell reprogramming for cancer immunotherapy, has made several key appointments across its various boards.

Dr Cristina Csimma joins the Board of Directors, bringing decades of experience in global drug development, company formation, and strategic guidance.
Ignacio Melero, an expert in intra-tumoural immunotherapies and principal researcher in over 65 clinical trials, joins the Scientific Advisory Board.
Brian Brown, known for inventing widely used genomics and gene therapy technologies, also joins the Scientific Advisory Board.

Four more biotech Board appointments. Here’s a few more notable biotech Board appointments we saw in June:

A former vice president at both Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca, Dr Elaine Sullivan has joined the board of Ochre Bio. With experience managing $100 million in assets and leading global teams, Sullivan’s appointment supports the Oxford-based company’s mission to develop RNA therapies for liver disease.
Dr Alessandra Cesano has joined the board of TOLREMO, a Basel-based biotech focused on preventing non-genetic cancer drug resistance. With over 25 years in oncology, Cesano has held leadership roles at ESSA Pharma, NanoString, Cleave Biosciences, and major pharma companies including Amgen, Biogen Idec, and GSK.
Eddie Gray, former president of GlaxoSmithKline Europe and CEO of Dynavax, has joined the board of Botanical Solution Inc. Gray, who also chaired the UK’s COVID-19 Taskforce, brings high-level strategic and operational expertise to the Delaware-based company’s botanical R&D platform.
Nicola Heffron, SVP of global marketing & market access at Alexion and former COO at bluebird bio, has joined the board of Essential Pharma. The UK-based company focuses on delivering medicines for niche patient populations, and Heffron’s commercial and operational experience is expected to support its global strategy.

CGT manufacturer expands Strategic Advisory Board. Limula, a Swiss life sciences tools company advancing automated solutions for cell and gene therapy manufacturing, has added Oliver Dick, former chief operating officer at Miltenyi Biotec to its Strategic Advisory Board. Dick brings over 30 years of leadership experience in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and diagnostics sectors.

New SAB formed at Danish biotech. Commit Biologics, a Danish biotech spin-out from Aarhus University focused on cancer and immune diseases, has announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board. Co-chaired by antibody expert Janine Schuurman, PhD, and CEO Mikkel Wandahl Pedersen, the board includes Paul Parren, Professor of Molecular Immunology and former Genmab SVP; Gavin Thurston, former Regeneron SVP of oncology research; Susan Kalled former CSO at Dianthus Therapeutics and Compass Therapeutics; and Esper Boel, former CTO at Symphogen and VP at Novo Nordisk.

Biomunex Pharmaceuticals builds team of MAIT Cell experts. Paris- and Cambridge-based Biomunex Pharmaceuticals has appointed five experts in Mucosal Associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells to its Scientific Advisory Board: Tim Greten, head of the gastrointestinal medical oncology team of the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute; Paul Klenerman, who heads the Immunology Network at Oxford University; Olivier Lantz, head of the clinical immunology laboratory at the Institut Curie in Paris; Christophe Massard, a medical oncologist and a professor of cancerology at the University of Paris-Saclay; and Matthias Peipp, head of the division of antibody-based immunotherapy at University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein & Kiel University. Their collective expertise will support Biomunex’s immunotherapeutic approaches in oncology.

Rewind Therapeutics names neurology leaders to Advisory Board. Belgian biotech Rewind Therapeutics, focused on remyelination technologies for diseases like multiple sclerosis, has appointed four internationally renowned neurology innovators to its Scientific Advisory Board: Professors Shiv Saidha of Johns Hopkins University, Cristina Granziera and David Leppert of the University of Basel, and Roberto Furlan of Vita-Salute San Raffaele University.

PLL Therapeutics brings ALS specialist aboard. Dr Philippe Corcia, head of the ALS Reference Centre since 2005 and Professor of Neurology since 2010, has joined the Scientific Board of PLL Therapeutics. With over 30 years of clinical and research experience in ALS, Corcia will support the company’s polypeptide delivery platform development.

That’s it for our Boards roundup for June. We’ll be back soon with hires from July. In the meantime you can send your own hires to editorial@pharmaphorum.com for inclusion in this column.