Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please send the good word—or the bad—from your shop to Max Bayer or Gabrielle Masson, and we will feature it here at the end of each week.
CEPI’s founding CEO set to lead public health charity Wellcome
Wellcome
U.K.-based public health charity Wellcome has not shied away from its ambitious goal of donating 16 billion pounds sterling by 2032. Now, the organization will have a new chief to oversee the mission.
The nonprofit has named John-Arne Røttingen as its CEO, plucking the public health diplomat and former NGO executive to help steer the multibillion-dollar fund. Røttingen is currently the ambassador for global health in Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was previously the founding head of the Center for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation (CEPI), which Wellcome helped launched in 2017, and CEO of the Research Council of Norway.
The organization has dipped its toe in an array of public-health-adjacent work, from launching new initiatives like CEPI to directly funding clinical development. Earlier this year, it joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to pour $550 million toward a phase 3 trial for GSK’s TB vaccine. The organization also helped fund the establishment of the AMR Action Fund, which has been tasked with tackling antimicrobial resistance and advancing new antibacterials. Source
Fresh off IPO, Neumora names new R&D chief
Neumora
Neuroscience-focused biotech Neumora has seen its spotlight brighten in recent weeks since joining a select few companies to plunge into the public markets this year. That makes the company’s most recent hire even more important.
Robert Lenz, M.D., Ph.D., is joining the company from Amgen, where he lead all global development for the Southern California pharma. He was there for nearly 11 years, leading development for a number of franchises including neurology, inflammation and nephrology. Neumora touted Lenz’s experience launching more than 130 trials and recruiting some 53,000 patients.
Neumora received a $100 million equity investment from Amgen back in 2021 and received global exclusive rights to a couple of programs for neurodegenerative diseases. Neumora recently jumped onto Wall Street, aiming to raise $250 million with shares at $17 per share. But it's been a tough first month, with prices down 40% to $9.64 per share. Release
Poseida’s newly named cell therapy president to take CEO reins
Poseida Therapeutics
Well, that was a quick promotion! Kristin Yarema, Ph.D., was hired by Poseida in April as president of cell therapy and now is moving up to the tippy top of the company. The company announced this week that she’ll be the new CEO, with current boss Mark Gergen moving to executive chairman. In a statement, he said the point of the leadership swap was “to set the Company up for success in its next phase of growth.”
Yarema was previously the chief commercial officer of Atara Biotherapeutics, which became the first company to have a marketed off-the-shelf cell therapy. The treatment was approved in Europe in late December as a treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory Epstein-Barr virus-positive post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease who had tried at least one prior treatment. She held a number of commercial roles at Amgen before that, including as VP and head of global product strategy and commercial innovation in hematology-oncology.
Gergen joined Poseida in 2018, first as CFO and chief business officer, before shedding the CFO title for president. He became CEO in February 2022 and tacked on board chair duties a year later. Yarema is set to officially take over at the start of 2024. Release
> Elicio Therapeutics has “terminated without cause” Chief Business Officer Annette Matthies, Ph.D. Matthies joined the company in early 2021 to lead all business and corporate development efforts, overseeing Elicio when it snagged a ticket to the public markets via a reverse merger with Angion Biomedica this January. Release
> After nabbing FDA approval for its heart drug Inpefa, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals has signed on Tom Garner as SVP and chief commercial officer. Garner joins from Bristol Myers Squibb, where he spent 21 years and most recently served as SVP and head of the company's U.S. Cardiovascular & Established Brands business unit. Fierce Pharma
> Dyadic International has selected Doug Pace as the biotech’s EVP of business development. Before joining the microbial platform company, Pace has decades of experience across Pfizer and Novartis. Release
> Arvin Yang, M.D., Ph.D., has departed his chief medical officer position at Mersana Therapeutics for the same title at Pheon Therapeutics. Before Mersana, Yang spent over a decade at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he helped drive the approvals of nivolumab, ipilimumab, fedratinib and luspatercept. Release
> Blue Water Biotech is shaking things up, selecting Neil Campbell to lead as president and CEO while appointing Bruce Harmon as chief financial officer as Jon Garfield exits the company. Before joining Blue Water Biotech, Campbell was president and CEO of Marizyme, while Harmon served as an independent consultant and an outsourced CFO for multiple public companies. Release
> As Federation Bio folds, Kanvas Biosciences has snapped up two of the biotech’s assets and Chief Scientific Officer Lee Swem, Ph.D., to lead program development. Swem now serves as Kanvas’ chief development officer. Fierce Biotech
> Ashvattha Therapeutics has appointed Sakura Minami, Ph.D., as VP of translational medicine and nonclinical development and Sarah Thayer as head of clinical operations. Minami previously served as Alkahest’s senior director of research, nonclinical development and translational medicine, while Thayer most recently served as VP and head of clinical operations for ReCode Therapeutics. Release
> Lixte Biotechnology Holdings’ founder and executive chair John Kovach, M.D., has passed away at age 87. Kovach founded the company in 2005 and served as CEO until Sept. 26 of this year, when Bas van der Baan took the title. Release
> Medicenna Therapeutics has chosen Humphrey Gardner, M.D., to serve as the immunotherapy company’s chief medical officer. Most recently, Gardner served as Harbour BioMed’s CMO and has held past leadership roles at Stingthera, Roivant Sciences, Evelo Biosciences, AstraZeneca, Novartis and Biogen. Release
> Neil McFarlane is taking the top spot at Zevra Therapeutics, succeeding Christal Mickle, who has been serving as interim CEO and president since June and will continue in her role as chief development officer. As for McFarlane, he recently served as CEO of Adamas Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Supernus Pharmaceuticals in November 2021. Release
> Sibylla Biotech has selected Sonia Poli, Ph.D., to serve as chief scientific officer. For the last three years, Poli served as life cycle leader for AC Immune’s collaboration with Eli Lilly on a Tau morphomer program. Release
> VarmX has chosen Chief Scientific Officer Jeffrey Lawson, M.D., Ph.D., to helm the company, taking over for Jan Öhrström, M.D., who will continue as chair of the board. Before joining VarmX in March, he served as Humacyte’s president and CEO. Release