Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of significant leadership hirings, firings and retirings across the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Darren Incorvaia, Marissa Russo or Donavyn Coffey, and it will be featured here at the end of each week.
B+L’s Brent Saunders eyes the exit again
Bausch + Lomb
Bausch + Lomb CEO Brent Saunders made a surprising second exit from the eye health company this week, less than four years into his latest tenure. Saunder’s exit was mutually agreed upon by the executive and the board of directors, Bausch + Lomb said in a statement.
In his stead, Thomas Appio, CEO of parent company Bausch Health since 2022 and Bosch + Lomb chairperson as of August, will lead as interim CEO.
“When I returned to Bausch + Lomb, I believed this company had tremendous potential,” said Saunders in a statement. “Today, it is stronger, more focused and better positioned for the future, with a clearer strategy, a more robust pipeline and significant opportunities ahead.”
Evercore ISI analysts noted that the change in leadership is unexpected given the pipeline projections and commercial targets Bausch + Lomb had laid out. Appio’s interim takeover suggests the transition may have been a surprise to the company as well, the analyst speculated. Story
Paragon imported Apogee's top brass after AbbVie buyout
Paragon Labs
Four months after AbbVie announced its $10.9 billion deal to buy Apogee for its late-phase eczema drug zumilokibart, it appears Paragon has taken its pick of the biotech’s top talent. This includes Michael Henderson, M.D., who headed up Apogee until the sale and will now take up the same role at Paragon. Henderson will be joined at Paragon by several of his Apogee colleagues, namely head of R&D Carl Dambkowski, M.D., chief business and financial officer Dan Mulreany, chief legal officer Matt Batters and chief people officer Emily Cox.
The Apogee alumni are no strangers to Paragon, as zumilokibart was originally developed at Paragon before the Boston-based biotech drug discovery hub spun out Apogee to take the anti-IL-13 antibody forward. Story
RAS-focused Verastem unveils leadership transition
Verastem Oncology
Effective in the new year, Daniel Paterson will step down as CEO after a 15-year run at Verastem, with Michael Bailey set to take over as the cancer drugmaker's next helmsman. Paterson was involved in the acquisition of VS-7375 from GenFleet Therapeutics, as well as its rapid advancement to phase 2 clinical trials across multiple KRAS G12D-mutated tumor types. VS-7375 is an oral KRAS G12D dual ON/OFF inhibitor that just recently reported positive phase 1/2 data in multiple solid tumors, including metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
Bailey has served on Verastem’s board since May 2026, but prior to that had spent 16 years with Aveo Pharmaceuticals in multiple leadership positions, including chief business officer, chief commercial officer, and most recently CEO. Release
> Bay area biotech Shenandoah Therapeutics shuffled its C-suite to advance its lead oncology program toward IND-enabling studies. eFFECTOR Therapeutics alum Steve Worland, Ph.D., was appointed CEO, while co-founder and founding CEO Isabella Graef, M.D., has transitioned to chief scientific officer. Release
> Harmony Biosciences tapped board member and COO Peter Anastasiou as its new president and chief executive officer ahead of current captain Jeffrey Dayno, M.D.’s end-of-year retirement. Release
> Matchpoint Therapeutics appointed Sanofi and CRISPR Therapeutics vet John O’Malley, M.D., Ph.D., as its new chief medical officer, as the company prepares to lead its lead covalent small molecule candidate into the clinic. Release
> Massachusetts-based biotech Prologue Medicines brought on Stephen Harrison, Ph.D., as its new chief scientific officer to help scale the company’s Delve platform and advance its pipeline of viral protein-based medicines. Release
> Shanghai AI-native biotech company Ailux tapped Llyod Miller, M.D., Ph.D., as its new chief medical officer. Miller previously served in leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson and led the strategy and clinical development of Icotyde, which was recently approved by the FDA. Release
> Cardiometabolic biotech MetaVia appointed clinical development consultant Sarah Browne, M.D., as its next chief medical officer. Release
> CRISPR gene editing biotech Intellia Therapeutics appointed Jing Marantz, M.D., Ph.D., as chief medical officer to help commercialize its first potential in vivo gene editing product and advance its phase 3 clinical trials in transthyretin amyloidosis. Release
> Harry Welten is set to succeed Michael Salzmann, Ph.D., as CEO of AL-S Pharma following a phase 2 win for the company’s lead ALS candidate. The clinical-stage company plans to launch a phase 3 trial next year. Release
> Italy's Sibylla Biotech, focused on leveraging the power of folding interference protein degradation to target proteins before they become undruggable, beefed up its C-suite as it aims to bring its lead program into clinical evaluation. Usman Azam, M.D., joined as Sibylla’s new CEO, with co-founder and previous CEO Lidia Pieri, Ph.D., moving to chief operating officer and Elena Ardini advancing from VP of R&D to chief scientific officer. Release
> Nimbus Therapeutics bolstered its leadership with three new additions. Lizabeth Leveille joined from Merck Research Laboratories as Nimbus’ new chief business officer. Fang Wang, Ph.D., has joined as senior vice president and head of biology, and Daniel Price, Ph.D., was promoted to senior vice president and head of chemistry. Release