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, Zoey Becker, or Will Maddox and it will be featured here at the end of each week.
EMD Serono taps in new commercial strategy head
EMD Serono
EMD Serono, Merck KGaA’s North American healthcare arm, has promoted from within to replace its retiring head of global commercial strategy, Andrew Paterson. Taking the commercial wheel is Miguel Fernández Alcalde, who’s spent over a decade at the company in leadership roles, including chief operating officer and, most recently, president and head of North America, giving him a “uniquely broad perspective” across commercial, operational and strategic sectors, EMD Serono explained. Paterson, meanwhile, is departing after a 31-year career at Merck KGaA, with five months spent in the head of global commercial strategy role.
Filling Alcalde’s vacant role as president, head of North America, is a new hire in Monia Vial. Vial joins the company from Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, where she most recently served as SVP and head of the U.S. rare disease business unit. Before Ipsen, the executive held roles of increasing responsibility at AstraZeneca and Bristol Myers Squibb, among other companies. Release
New Sanofi CEO swaps out research chief
Sanofi
Recently appointed Sanofi CEO Belén Garijo has stamped her mark on the organization, hiring former Roche executive Paulo Fontoura, M.D., Ph.D., to replace Houman Ashrafian, Ph.D., as the head of the company’s stuttering R&D group. Sanofi lured Fontoura, a neurologist by training, away from Xaira Therapeutics, a startup that exited stealth in 2024 with $1 billion in funding and ambitions to transform R&D with AI. Before Xaira, Fontoura’s time at Roche spanned 16 years and culminated in an SVP role overseeing neuroscience, immunology, ophthalmology and infectious and rare diseases. Story
RevMed R&D leader readies for retirement
Revolution Medicines
After leading RevMed’s research and development organization since 2017, including shepherding star RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib towards an almost guaranteed approval in pancreatic cancer, Steve Kelsey, M.D., is planning to retire in January 2027. In advance of his retirement, Kelsey is now transitioning to the role of senior advisor to the CEO. With Kelsey stepping aside, Chief Scientific Officer Jan Smith, Ph.D., will look after RevMed’s research, while Chief Development Officer Alan Sandler, M.D., will continue overseeing development. In addition, Xiaolin Wang, formerly executive VP of development, will take on a new role leading portfolio strategy and management, along with pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. Release
> Physician-scientist Mariana Cota Stirner, M.D., Ph.D., is bringing her decades of clinical development experience to Ichnos Glenmark Innovation as its new chief medical officer. Release
> Lundbeck’s Johan Luthman is soon to retire, leaving current SVP, global health of research and corporate patents, Tarek Samad, to step up to take his place come the official transition in September. Release
> Biond Biologics is roping in industry-experienced pulmonologist and thoracic oncology specialist Giovanni Selvaggi, M.D., as its newly appointed chief medical officer. Release
> Human-compatible organ engineer eGenesis is preparing for clinical development with new chief financial officer Glenn Vraniak and a new title for seasoned chief business officer Jennifer Bergheiser, who will now take on the role of chief commercial officer. Release
> Latus Bio, entering the clinic with its Huntington’s disease gene therapy prospect, tapped Amgen vet Bethany Mancilla to come onboard as chief business officer. Release
> enGene is halving its staff and saying goodbye to a slew of execs, including Chief Financial Officer Ryan Daws, Chief Legal Officer Lee Giguere, Chief Strategy and Operations Officer Alex Nichols and Chief Scientific Officer Anthony Cheung. Chief Medical Officer Hussein Sweiti, M.D., has also stepped down, with board member William Grossman, M.D., Ph.D., filling in in the interim. Release
> With plans to file its prostate cancer candidate for FDA approval later this year, Candel Therapeutics is prepping for launch by naming AstraZeneca vet Mark Sims as chief commercial officer. Release
> Genetic medicine outfit Vyriad has found a new president in Luke Russell, Ph.D., who previously served as executive vice president, while co-founder and former president Stephen Russell, M.D., Ph.D., is taking on the mantle of chief scientific officer. Release
> Oryn Therapeutics has found a pair of new leaders for its macrocylic peptide plans in Guy Rosenthal, Ph.D., as president and CEO and Paul Carrington, Ph.D., as senior vice president of discovery & early development. Release
> Arrakis Therapeutics has found a new emperor in Mark DeLong, who is taking over the CEO spot from the abdicating Michael Gilman, Ph.D. Release